Fury (2014) / Z-View

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Fury (2014)

Director: David Ayer

Screenplay: David Ayer

Stars:  Brad Pitt, Shia LaBeouf, Logan Lerman, Michael Pena  and Jon Bernthal.

The Pitch: “Hey, David Ayer wants to make a war movie with Brad Pitt!”

Tagline:  “War never ends quietly.”

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

In the latter days of World War II, tank commander  Don ‘Wardaddy’ Collier [Pitt] wants nothing more than to keep his highly battle-tested crew alive.  Returning from a battle with a dead crew member, Collier is immediately given a raw recruit and ordered to have his tank commandos join up on a mission vital to the success of the war.

Writer / director David Ayer has brought together an excellent cast to give us a unique perspective on war — from a tank crew’s view.  Although most would think that being in a tank would be one of the safest places during a battle, that was far from true.  It has been said that the average life expectancy of an allied tank crew was just six weeks.

Ayer is great at creating heroes and villains that aren’t black and white and he doesn’t let us down here. Although a first glance there are several stereotypical characters, the actors chosen make them real.  Ayers movies always leave the viewer with a lot to think about and Fury is no exception.  Right now, I’m thinking that it might be time for another viewing.

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American Monster #4 by Azzarello & Doe / Z-View

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American Monster #4 is part of an on-going series published by Vertigo Comics.

Writer: Brian Azzarello
Artist: Juan Doe
Colorist: Juan Doe
Letterer: Juan DoeRegular
Cover Artist: Juan Doe

*** Beware – spoilers may be found below ***

The smallest of towns oft times make for the biggest happenings… and the small burg that Theo Montclaire has decided to call home is no exception. Shotguns, betrayal, perversion and explosions. Just a few of the ingredients that make up the ass-kicking meal known as AMERICAN MONSTER.

There’s a lot going on in issue three.  Felix’s gun-running gang is at odds with the Reverand’s 2nd Amendment gun-toting Christians, the honest Deputy is being told to stand down on his investigation, and Theo is making a deal for explosives and looking to buy a bar.

Azzarello and Doe continue to impress.  With American Monster they’ve laid the ground work for a great on-going crime series for those wanting a story that isn’t wall to wall fights, the traditional good guys in white hats or stories that are simply told.   American Monster isn’t for kids or those offended by mature language, but it is for folks who enjoy a well crafted and well drawn comic.

 

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Jim Thompson’s The Killer Inside Me Gets New Life with IDW

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The Killer Inside Me by Jim Thompson is a classic.  Written 62 years ago, The Killer Inside Me has been the subject of two film adaptations, has been a major influence on countless novelists, screenwriters, lyricists and yet has never had a comic adaptation until now.

IDW is publishing the comic adaptation of The Killer Inside Me as a comic mini-series written by Devin Faraci and illustrated by Vic Malhotra.  Faraci recently spoke with Zack Smith at Newsarama about how Jim Thompson’s The Killer Inside Me Gets New Life with IDW.

If you’re at all interested in The Killer Inside Me‘s importance to the genre, influence on generations or what goes into creating a worthy adaptation, then this interview is for you!

American Monster #3 by Azzarello & Doe / Z-View

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American Monster #3 is part of an on-going series published by Vertigo Comics.

Writer: Brian Azzarello
Artist: Juan Doe
Colorist: Juan Doe
Letterer: Juan DoeRegular
Cover Artist: Juan Doe

*** Beware – spoilers may be found below ***

The war both home and abroad. The struggle between man and monster. The epic fight between good and evil. All of these battles and more waging within the soul of one man…and all in one small town.

In American Monster #3 we learn the source of Theo’s disfigurement, attend a wake and learn that Felix’s gang isn’t the only group in town with guns and a beef and more.

Azzarello and Doe are taking us on a fun ride.  If you’re into crime fiction, like great writing and art then American Monster could be for you.  American Monster isn’t for kids or those offended by mature language.

 

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American Monster #2 by Azzarello & Doe / Z-View

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American Monster #2 is part of an on-going series published by Vertigo Comics.

Writer: Brian Azzarello
Artist: Juan Doe
Colorist: Juan Doe
Letterer: Juan Doe
Regular Cover Artist: Juan Doe

*** Beware – spoilers may be found below ***

A man’s country can be both something to fight for…and to fight against. Just one of many difficult decisions punching Theo Montclair square in the face. Betrayal and rage are just some the easier emotions that Theo will suffer through on his long hard road towards redemption.

In American Monster #2 we begin to learn more about the characters and their relationships.  Thanks to Deputy Downs (a honest cop?) we learn that the disfigured man is Theodore Montclaire and that he sports the same back tats as the local gang leader.  And speaking of the local gang leader… somebody murdered his dog…

Azzarello and Doe are once again in top form.

American Monster isn’t for kids or those offended by mature language.

 

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American Monster #1 by Azzarello & Doe / Z-View

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American Monster #1 is part of an on-going series published by Vertigo Comics.

Writer: Brian Azzarello
Artist: Juan Doe
Colorist: Juan Doe
Letterer: Juan Doe
Regular Cover Artist: Juan Doe

*** Beware – spoilers may be found below ***

In a small Midwestern town, a large man with a horribly scarred face gets off a bus, and takes a room. He spooks the locals–nobody knows him–or do they? It’s impossible to say be-cause he seemingly has no face. The man’s intentions remain unknown, until he takes on a corrupt sheriff and the rural crew of racist arms dealers. The town’s impression of the man changes, and he’s seen as a hero…until his real intentions bubble to the surface. The man isn’t there to end the gang, but to take it over. And he’s just getting started.

American Monster is a winner.  Not a done-in-one or by the numbers mini-series, American Monster is instead a crime/mystery story created by a talented team.  There are a lot of questions set up in this issue and my guess is that as the answers play out over the course of this yarn, they won’t always be what we’re led to believe.

Is the disfigured man, a war hero, a criminal or both?  Who blew up his vehicle?  Was that bank robbery money the disfigured man flashed?  And how does he tie in to the local gang leader who just brutally murdered two people?

Azzarello and Doe make for a great creative team.  It’s nice to have a comic with both a high level of artistry in the writing and art.  I’m looking forward to more of the same in each issue.

American Monster isn’t for kids or those offended by mature language.

 

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Dave Wachter and the Rhinestone Cowboy

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Dave Wachter is back and he brought his take on Sly from the Rhinestone. I met Dave several years ago and became an instant fan. I wasn’t the only one to discover Dave’s fantastic sketches! How can you not like a great guy who is a terrific artist?

It has become a HeroesCon tradition that I get  Dave to draw his take on Sly.  Somehow this one was never posted until now.

You can see more of Dave’s art at his site. – Craig

13 Conspiratorial Facts About “The Manchurian Candidate”

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Eric D. Snider and Mental_Floss present 13 Conspiratorial Facts About The Manchurian Candidate.  Here are three of my favorites…

1. JOHN F. KENNEDY HELPED IT GET MADE.
Frank Sinatra had a deal with United Artists and wanted the studio to make an adaptation of Richard Condon’s 1959 novel. But the execs at UA thought the subject matter was too politically controversial and wanted nothing to do with it. Lucky for Sinatra, he had friends in high places, including President John F. Kennedy. Frank visited JFK, who’d been a fan of the novel, and the president made a personal appeal to UA head Arthur Krim, who was especially apt to listen because he was also the Democratic Party’s finance chairman. Condon later told a Sinatra biographer, “That’s the only way the film ever got made. It took Frank going directly to Jack Kennedy.”

4. THE BLURRY SHOTS WEREN’T AN ARTISTIC CHOICE.
Near the end of the film, when Marco visits Raymond’s hotel room and interrogates him, trying to undo the effects of the brainwashing, some shots of Sinatra are out of focus. Director John Frankenheimer said he got a lot of praise from critics for this “artistic choice”—showing Marco the way the addled Raymond sees him—but, in fact, it was the assistant cameraman’s mistake. Frankenheimer was horrified when he saw the footage and called Sinatra back in to reshoot those scenes, but Sinatra couldn’t deliver a performance better than that first, blurry one.

5. SINATRA WANTED LUCILLE BALL TO PLAY THE CONNIVING MOTHER.
Frankenheimer, who’d worked with Angela Lansbury just a few months earlier on All Fall Down, always wanted her for the part of Mrs. Eleanor Shaw Iselin. But Sinatra had an interesting suggestion, too: Lucille Ball. Putting TV’s queen of slapstick in such a malevolent role would have been perversely amusing, but, alas, it was not to be.

The Twilight Children #4 by Hernandez and Cooke / Z-View

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The Twilight Children #4 is part of a four-issue mini-series published by Vertigo Comics.

Writer: Gilbert Hernandez
Artist: Darwyn Coole
Colorist: Dave Stewart
Cover Artist: Darwyn Cooke

*** Beware – spoilers may be found below ***

The mysteries have been piling up for 3 previous issues and while we get some of them answered, many of the answers are going to be left to reader interpretation.  That could be a good or bad thing depending on your, uh, interpretation.

The story ends with the mysterious woman on the beach with the young scientist, one of the CIA agents, and Nicholas.  One of them is not what he seems.  If you’re looking for a totally satisfying happy ending, I didn’t find it… although it wasn’t a totally sad or terrible ending either.  I have no doubt I will find more hints of what’s to come and things to like with each re-reading of the series.  Then again, it could be one of those stories where the journey to the ending is more important than the ending itself.  I guess it is all in how you interpret it.

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You Betcha: 14 Polite Facts About TV’s Fargo

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Jake Rosen and Mental_Floss present You Betcha: 14 Polite Facts About TV’s Fargo.  Here are three of my favorites…

2. THERE’S A REASON THEY DIDN’T USE MARGE.
One reason Littlefield was more supportive of this spin-off was because creator Noah Hawley had no desire to revisit McDormand’s Marge Gunderson character, the heavily-pregnant sheriff of Brainerd, Minnesota. In 2014, Hawley told IndieWire that he opted for an anthology format with a different narrative every season to avoid the show becoming about the “grim” day-to-day adventures of Marge.

4. THE SERIES IS ALL TAKEN FROM A (FAKE) TRUE CRIME BOOK.
Hawley has been quoted as saying he thinks of the Fargo-verse as being influenced by a big book of Midwestern crime tales, with each season being a different chapter. He cemented that idea in the ninth episode of the second season, opening with a close-up of a book titled The History of True Crime in the Midwest.

5. … WHICH MIGHT EXPLAIN THAT UFO.
Saving Patrick Wilson’s Lou Solverson character during the “Massacre at Sioux Falls” referenced in the first season was the appearance of what appeared to be a UFO hovering over a motel parking lot. Even by Fargo’s standards, it was a strange occurrence. According to Hawley, who was pressed for some kind of explanation during a June 2016 book signing, the scene stemmed from the idea that the show is taking cues from “true crime” books and all of the unbelievable details they often contain.

Speaking of a similar scene that felt disconnected from the narrative of the original film, Hawley said that he asked himself, “‘Why is this in the movie?’ It has nothing to do with the movie—except the movie says, ‘This is a true story.’ They put it in there because it ‘happened.’ Otherwise you wouldn’t put it in there. The world of Fargo needs those elements; those random, odd, truth-is-stranger-than-fiction elements.”

Rough Trade by Todd Robinson / Z-View

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Rough Trade by Todd Robinson

Hardcover: 320 pages
Publisher: Polis Books

First sentence…

We were bored as ****.

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

Rough Trade is the sequel to Robinson’s The Hard Bounce (which I loved) featuring Boo and Junior.  Boo and Junior have been best buds since their childhood days in a group home.  Although grown, neither has really matured.  By night they are bouncers at The Cellar (a local tavern / music venue ) and by day (and nights they’re not bouncing), they hire out as security for other bars, finding runaways, or whatever will pay some bills.

When Boo is asked by a waitress at the Cellar to scare off ex-boyfriend, Byron, you know that Junior is going to tag along.  One thing leads to another and Byron is left beaten, bloody but in no danger of taking the big sleep.  So when Byron is found dead all evidence points to our boys.

The police bring Junior in for questioning and Boo knows it won’t be long before the cops will pick him up.  The clock is ticking and it is up to Boo to figure out not only why Byron was killed but who did it.  Along the way there will be beatings, shootings, mysteries and secrets revealed and a lot of fun.

Fun for the reader that is. Robinson has a unique voice and turns the tough guy cliches into humorous situations without writing down to the genre.  I loved The Hard Bounce and think Rough Trade is an even better book.

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